Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I love comments, I love the interaction and the sharing of ideas and opinions. I love the encouragement and support from like minded individuals.....I think blogs are neat and inspiring.I do not like folks leaving comments with the express purpose of directing others to their blog, sales page, website, game, contest or giveaway etc.

It has only happened a few times but seems that twice in the last week its escalating.

I understand everyones desire to "make it" on the web and perhaps achieve success like the Pioneer Woman and others like her.....but, do it on your own terms, not by hitting the 'net daily throwing your name on the list of blogs for the day.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Last Friday my riding partner Cindy called and asked If I wanted to ride for a couple hours, I replied sure and we met up about 1 or so.I decided to ride Domino because I have put so much effort into Cricket he was feeling neglected......

not really, I just figured he was the horse du jour.

The day was beautiful, warm and just slight breeze, the best of Central Oregons fall weather. We discussed how long to ride and I thought it would be OK to go longer than shorter, so the rimrock overlooking Bowman Dam and the head of the Crooked River was our destination.

Cindy was game and we were off, the desert sand is damp now and there was no dust and the footing was good. Domino has fantastic mustang feet and he never needs boots, Cindys mare had a new trim but her barefeet are good and tough she went well without boots as well.

We saw 2 cow elk far ahead they bounded across our trail and disapeared into the remnants of the burned up juniper from the control burn a few years ago.

This image is looking east and Bowman Dam, that is the Crooked River Highway across the top, goes south all the way to Roberts and Brothers.

This image is looking west down into the canyon of the Crooked River, it may not look like much... it didn't to us either. I thought we should get down to the river and water the horses....... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Here is Cindy tossing her whip trying to get her horses ears up......

and me with Domino, see how we are wearing sweaters and are fresh and game....

Well, we made it down , we decided to hike it because it was very steep and rocky and less stress on the horses, they already packed us about 5 miles.... besides we needed the aerobic activity.

This is looking west but the height of the top is pretty consistent, this view is all basalt lava, we came down a gravelly and dirt area. The footing is very, very rocky and rugged, I'm glad both our horses handle it well and with the dry climate and regular use keeps their feet in top form.

Here I am about 1/2 way, we stopped for a breather.... hiking UP was significantly MORE strenuous than hiking down!

See how the power poles drop out of sight behind me? See how I lost my sweater?

And Cindy too, we are still going up! With my dog Jill taking a breather.

....and still going up!

and Cindy's dog Zoe....going up, slowly.

....breather over.... still going up!

whew!.... I have to rest again

We made it up to the top and mounted up again, continued our loop to the cinder pit and made it home at sunset.

4 solid hours, I calculated our route on Google Earth around 12 miles and 1100 feet in elevation change, from the river bed to the rimrock.

Like I said .... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Thanks to Cindy and her camera, and being patient and adventurous to my harebrained idea to water the horses in the river. But at least this time the weather was favorable and we brought drinking water.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

I miss my children and I only hope they miss me too. I hope one day they will lose the anger and instead find the love again and realize we all are imperfect. Being imperfect is a part of the human experience and love, tolerance and acceptance of one anothers imperfections is instead an example of our love for one another.Imperfection is not a measure of our lack of love.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

2 weeks ago my friend and neighbor Cindy and I went trail riding, I had told her I wanted to go out the way she goes to the reservoir.

She called and asked if I wanted to ride that day, I jumped at the chance and we met up about 11am, I didn't think we'd be gone long so I neglected to go back for my hat and it didn't seem that warm.... and we weren't going to be gone long (see a theme here?).... I also neglected to bring a water bottle.

As it turned out we had a such a good time and the horses were willing and the day was open we ended up being gone about 4 hours, AND it turned out to be a record heat day of 98 degrees.

Cindy was prepared for anything, we shared her water bottle and she had a nifty doggy canteen with bowl that she generously shared between my dog and hers. I'm going to get one of those doggy canteens with the bowl, it was very clever.

Slight sunburn and dehydration aside it was a spectacular ride and we hope to do it again soon.I figured we covered about 10 to 12 miles all together. Most of the ground is rocky to VERY rocky with some gravelly and sandy areas, both our horses are barefoot and booted on the front, I use Easyboot Epics with gaiters she uses Renegades, on the way home we both pulled the boots to let their feet work naturally and develop some callus.

I rode Cricket because she needs the miles and she did very good, we came down several extremely steep trails and she used her back and hind quarters to rate herself well. I'm happy with the progress she has made she is really starting to listen and accept direction and her softness and responsiveness has improved light years from June.

Cindy rode her Missouri Foxtrotting mare, she is young but very responsive and stable and steady, she was a great confidence builder for Cricket.

The views are spectacular on the rim overlooking the reservoir. This is preview of where we are headed.

My dog kept looking over the rim and was frustrated she couldn't get to the water from there, the cliff is several hundred feet straight down.Overlooking Bowman Dam on the west end of Prineville Reservoir, start of the Crooked River.

Overlooking County Boat Ramp on the NW end of Prineville Reservoir

A flock of ducks Cindy encountered at the boat ramp one day recently

Ahhhh cool, clear, water.....

My Trail Boss for the day.....

Cricket enjoying the cool, clear, water.....

And special thanks to Cindy for bringing her camera and graciously sharing our adventure.....

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The above link takes you to an article in the September Red Deer Advocate, a local paper in Alberta. The featured person in the article is my Dear Honeys mother. She is a kick ass rider and very, very competitive, she regularly wins the contests she enters and has some great partners.

She lives alone on a small place in AB, manages her horses and rides often.....at 89.